please please. please . a number of civilian hostages are dead with more being held at gunpoint by islamic terrorists in algeria that's a retaliation for the french assault in neighboring mali but paris maintains its actions are justified. force to tackle the hostage crisis in algeria british prime minister david cameron yet again delays a long anticipated andress aimed at tackling the issue of the u.k.'s future role within the european union. the artistic director of russia's bolshoi theatre undergoes treatment for severe chemical burns to his face following an acid attack

which officials are linking to sinister professional rivalry. and as israeli voters prepare to head to the polls next tuesday we'll look into wine prime minister benjamin netanyahu is seeing his support every way. it's six pm here in moscow this is r t coming to you live with me and he said no way good to have you with us our top story this hour islamic terrorists are still holding an international group of hostages at a gas plant in algeria with the local military continuing their attempts to free the captives about sixty foreigners remain unaccounted for a number of civilians were killed during a blitz rescue attempt by algerian forces which drew anger from the international community now the militants say they're acting in revenge for the french

intervention in neighboring mali but paris maintains it only helps justify its campaign polly boycott now reports. wildly varying reports as to the number of casualties how many hostages are dead but we do know that at least two civilian workers two brits have been killed and up to as many as thirty more international hostages could be dead now these are peaceful civilians from all around the world that were working at the facility they've suddenly found themselves in the middle of this very dangerous situation where the algerian military have apparently been criticized for going in guns blazing you know the u.k. and the u.s. have already complained that they weren't really warned in advance that this rescue operation was taking place and they've got a number of citizens there at the moment it's very sketchy still what's going on but david cameron over in the u.k.

has already warned britons to brace themselves for multiple casualties and for more bad news potentially on the way so we're just trying to get a clearer picture of what's going on there at the moment many were very surprised at how quickly fronts wattle and jumped into this intervention just one week ago when the strikes in the north of mali began and of course with the crisis now the sakes with the crisis in algeria the stakes are really getting much higher we've got a number of civilian casualties from countries that aren't even fronts from the u.k. from britain from japan all in this very dangerous situation and a lot of political analysts saying that yes other terrorist attacks in retaliation for the french military offensive in mali of very much a possibility now we've also got critics over in the u.k. and in the u.s. saying that this is the place that the allies of france are now paying for supporting this intervention that was quite a hastily planned and

a bit of surprise announcement last week so of course france while london needs spend to. the crisis to citizen needs and he said that the behavior of these militants and the very brutal reports that we're receiving from the gas compound in algeria that justifies he says the french military intervention in mali up until a few days ago almost two thirds of the french public supported this military intervention in mali but for francois hollande that could change very very quickly as we're seeing these civilian casualties pile up i mean we know that we had civilian casualties in the ground in mali you know throughout the course of last week but this crisis has really upped the stakes with a number of western casualties and other countries now being dragged into the situation this is turning into a very sticky and difficult situation for all and and of course this is

a man who was voted in last year in france for his rather peaceful credentials he actually said that he wanted to cut his paternalistic ties with former french colonies but we've seen him jump into this conflict very very quickly and a lot of political analysts are also saying that it could turn into a real quagmire and that these islamist groups these al qaeda linked groups could actually be much stronger in the region then the french previously anticipated so it could turn into a much longer conflict than anybody thought. well political analyst alex corbell from contra points things france has made a mistake by getting involved in a conflict which he says is bound to escalate. i don't believe that the public will continue to support or please don't force her on in the. military operations in mali because when he was elected sixty four percent of the french public.

considered that. afonso an aunt. would not be able to tackle an international crisis compared to thirty percent for extras and sarkozy so i believe that. and this public support is temporary and that sooner or sooner or later the french public will realize that it's so necessary it's an unnecessary were a costly war and longer much more than planned when you do a military intervention in a foreign country it triggers consequences that are not planned and this conflict will use willy will expend in mali in algeria in neighborhood countries and when we will push back. the extremists then who knows where they're going to. to go to i mean they come from algeria they come from libya they went to mali if we if we if we start to really beat them there they're going to go in in

a board kind of countries are really we really prepared to fight a war in india will western africa i don't think so. well we want to know what do you think the fallout from the algeria hostis crisis crisis will be and you can head to our web site r t dot com and take part in our latest online poll let's take a look at the numbers so far almost half of you think that the islamist will join forces and escalate the conflict in north africa over a quarter or so believe that that it will lead to a large scale nato led libya style campaign per se some twenty percent think we'll see a french reoccupation in mali and only five percent expect western troops to withdraw amid a growing pressure on french president perhaps he will be isolated go online have your say on what you think is happening on this very precious pressing issue well britain's prime minister has warned the u.k. to prepare for bad news as around ten british citizens are in militant captivity in

algeria the crisis forced david cameron to postpone his long awaited address on britain's status within the e.u. which he was due to deliver this friday details now from artie's sarah ferguson. ongoing hostage situation in algeria of course that was the reason for the postponement but of course he's seen some of the extracts coming out of that speech that he was key to give in the netherlands today and certainly there was some strong words in it he said that there was a gap between the and his citizens and that if something wasn't done to address these challenges that europe could fail because the speech that would have been given this is really considered a very pivotal point in his leadership and a hugely important speech the extra actually quite a positive actually overall perhaps more positive than many of the euro skeptics would have liked to see he has some points on it that he talks about in sort of

growing and building this relationship with the now we know that there was thought going to be put on the table the possibility of a referendum deal that would take place after the twenty fifth the general election a lot of concern here that that will leave britain a can two years of uncertainty but actually what the prime minister was going to highlight is this would be starting the firing guns say to speak on the big debate of britain's relationship with the e.u. we haven't heard yet when the next date will be after this latest because payment of course we've seen is the still a number of times already so there's a lot of consensus of the talk around this that all the hype around this is building has it really being seen as having contributed hugely to helping get clarity on this issue and i think what people are going to be looking for from the speech when it eventually comes is force and courage in leadership. or robert oulds a british conservative party politician and director of the bruise group says david

cameron can no longer delay solving this longstanding problem. he needs to set a clear course of what he's going to be doing regarding the european you have a clear distinctive workable policy to fail to do that just keeps the speculation going and keeps the infighting in the conservative party continuing so really he needs to get a grip on this policy as soon as possible and perhaps not try and ally having a referendum until some time after the next general election even if he is prime minister to hold it before that would be the best way to end the uncertainty and so we know exactly where we are going britain pays billions each year to the european union we have enormous costs put on the british economy as a result of excessive e.u. regulation and e.u. policies they just don't work for this country it's more of a hindrance than it is a help to the british economy and of course it undermines our own democracy and the

option is quite simply to either stay in the european union as it is which doesn't work for many different people or course leave the european union and negotiate a. basis of a relationship that's purely built around trade and the sooner david cameron delivers the wishes of the british people and the turns power or exits the european union the better. in other news the arse to rector of moscow's bolshoi theater sergei fenian is being treated in hospital for severe chemical burns after a masked man port acid in his face in central moscow feeling will have to undergo extensive treatment in belgium in an attempt to save his sight let's not discuss the attack with r.c.s. let's say yourselves king who joins us live from outside the bolshoi theater looks at what are the facts of this attack as we know right now. well the bolshoi theatre the pride and joy of the russian culture is celebrating exactly one

hundred eighty eight years since it was created but definitely this birthday celebration has been marred by this gruesome attack on a sadistic director so gay feeling was returning from work on thursday night when another defied man called him out by his name sygate turned around to respond and the man reportedly threw a ball of acid into his face we know that's a good feeling was taken to a hospital and the doctors have been battling to save his eyesight in the latest information we've received that sergei filin will most likely be traveling to belgium to have treatment there the persecutors office has launched an investigation a criminal case to determine who stands behind this attack but it could be an in-house job especially given the information from the bolshoi press officer who said that city gate was intimidated for several months his car tires were slashed he received threatening phone calls and his facebook page was hacked so we definitely have to wait and see until the end of the vista geishas to see whether this this tragic this gruesome attack was masterminded inside the bolshoi theater i

just want to talk a little bit more about possible motives because we are reading that officials are saying and you mentioned this briefly that the attack could be connected with some kind of conflicting interest perhaps a rivalry are we hearing anything more about that. well then. still continuing to see whether there were so but as we saw in the hollywood movie the black swan definitely the big stage is certainly a rather conflict zone and there is some infighting happening behind the scenes the bolshoi theatre has never been an exception to that there have been stories of some serious infighting to get roles to get a prima ballerina positions we've had heard many revelations from former artists of the bolshoi on that still would talk to the colleagues and employees of feeling they were all shell shocked at what happened because despite all the infighting and despite the fact that sygate was the one who was assigning all the roles in the

bolshoi theater still the bolshoi never made criminal headlines in this attack is something completely outrageous for other bolshoi theater but definitely everyone is waiting for the results of the investigation for some at least preliminary data from the from the security authorities to see whether this could have been inside job and whether somebody inside the bush if he did could have been responsible for this terrible attack. or let's hear a sense the reporting live from outside the boston a theater where of course as we're reporting it's artistic director was chemically attacked today on the streets of moscow thank you. but months after hurricane sandy devastated america's east coast survivors homes remain in squalor later on we report on why they feel they aren't getting the necessary support from the government as they look into rebuilding their lives and homes that is just ahead for you.

if you're. going to take three. or three. three. three. three. download free blog videos for your media project free media don carty dot com. do we speak your language does anyone have the will or not advance the. news programs and documentaries in spanish what matters to you breaking news that will

turn into bangalore's stories. you hear. true altie spanish find out more visit actuality t.v. dot com. here with our to live from moscow polls conducted by two israeli newspapers suggest prime minister benjamin netanyahu is set to win the upcoming parliamentary poll in just four days time that his support appears to be dwindling with many right wing voters now regarding netanyahu as policies as too soft archies paul the slayer looks into what challenges he could face is reelected. he's the surprise success story in campaign one twin millionaire who says a palestinian state would be suicide for israel naftali bennett used to work for prime minister netanyahu but now he's working at taking supporters away from him

like this man who used to be a diehard supporter of netanyahu so we could party until these elections rolled around the likud is. a bus full of right wing members of knesset with a left wing person driving the bus. as far as being i mean. yes even though i am opposed to a state. i would say most members of the likud obviously is for it the irony is that while the world sees netanyahu as a right wing leader at home he's losing face among supporters for not being hawkish enough this is part of the right wing campaign he's up against there are some things we all know will never happen the sopranos will never return for another season. growing our pro and a peace agreement with the palestinians will not happen promises like this have put bennett's jewish home party in food position it's poised to take more than twelve

percent of parliamentary seats analysts say little yahoo was still expected to serve another term is running scared he's up his rhetoric i say in the most clear of terms the western wall is not occupied territory i don't care what the un says we will build in jerusalem because it's our right not one yahoos we could list has grown even more right wing with radicals like this woman high up in the pecking order. but the league would be taken apart it is a party with values the state of israel is a state of the jews whose eternal capital. but what will be the implications of such rhetoric after the elections many israelis are asking themselves about the day after will netanyahu become more rightwing and risk drawing israel into conflicts with its neighbors or will he back down and risk losing face among his supporters. is hoping for the latter that

netanyahu will listen to world opinion and reach a compromise with the palestinians he knows all too well what the current cycle of violence can bring speakers daughter was killed in a suicide bombing seventeen years ago and. we don't have unfortunately in the center and the left. a leader who is significantly charismatic to lead this country and give its people hope the left is also divided but i do think netanyahu will find a way to compromise because of world pressure but that compromise won't come easy enough to the bennett solution to the israeli palestinian conflict is to annex most of the west bank while allowing palestinians limited self rule in the wrist and while that might not seem a possible idea to most of the international community it's exactly what his constituency wants to hear a fact in a time yahoo is acutely aware of policy r.t. tel aviv. well as he will make closely following the campaign trail in israel including the election next tuesday for in-depth coverage stay tuned to r.t.

and visit our website r.t. dot com. how will tension with to run develop will settlement expansion isolate can there be peace with gaza what's next in relations with america will let in you know who survive his snuff election on january twenty second. israel decides what are three. pakistan's government has reached a deal with muslim cleric to hear condrey to hold mass protests in the capital tens of thousands of his supporters and at a sit in after he convinced islamabad to dissolve parliament in march ahead of elections now it comes amid rising anger over widespread corruption allegations the government has rejected an order by pakistan's supreme court to arrest the prime minister over alleged corruption a police officer involved in the investigation has been found dead a man essentially have been found hanged in the government still in the capital where he lives with colleagues party spoke exclusively to the protest leader behind

the anti-government uproar before he reached a deal with officials. when i use here revolution we should keep in your mind in egypt in tunis in libya and all these countries there were lead to the dictatorship for years and years for a long time. and the people stood up against that in iran there was it when eric to rule of shan shah the people stood up against their. party stanek is bit different there is no one else rude neither monadic elude nor a military dictatorship here is electoral authority did twenty billion is electoral dictatorship true democracy does not exist in this society neither in political field nor in social feed nor economic field nor democracy so this is that lawlessness total chaos and an oddity in this country government is totally dysfunctional. saw that this is the single nation

a single country in the whole muslim world having nuclear capability and if the same situation continues there could be a very big disaster if we come to the level of collapse so out of this margin movement is anti corruption to educate our society from corruption and this is need of the whole muslim world. and old total. developing muslim countries have to get to good of corruption and get up and. well be sure to catch the full interview with talk here concrete here on r.t. at six forty five pm g.m.t. . it's been reported that russia's former defense minister could find himself in the center of a criminal case and the tories served a cold is now being investigated over allegations of abusing his power but the protests already revealed that some top defense officials ordered soldiers to landscape the gardens at a military vacation facility belonging to surgical the brother in law the defense

ministry has been at the center of a multimillion dollar embezzlement scandal for several months now and it's only surgical was fired by president putin in november and has been a witness in a number of fraud cases involving his former colleagues. a look now at some stories from around the world after the latest round of talks officials from the u.n. nuclear watchdog are returning from iran without securing a deal on investigating suspected atomic bomb research. inspectors have been denied access to a military site which they've been trying to get inside for several years more talks are scheduled for mid february the u.s. and israel have long accused iran of efforts to develop nuclear weapons which it denies. greek lawmakers have turned on a former finance minister accused of hampering a tax probe they voted to investigate george papaconstantinou no over claims he removed his relatives names from a list of tax evasion suspects called lugard list france handed over the names of

more than two thousand greeks with swiss bank accounts public constantino claims he's a scapegoat and denies any wrongdoing greece is on a major tax crackdown as it battles the worst ever financial crisis. now the victims of hurricane sandy will finally get the fifty one billion dollar aid they desperately need after the u.s. house of representatives approved a package it took lawmakers over two months to act while the storm survivors struggled with next to no support as a necessity of turkana reports. a gorgeous beach turned coast area. the rockaways in queens one of the places hit hardest by hurricane sandy to want to have months ago still in shambles today miles and miles of devastated businesses residential buildings and houses like this one

a place some family probably used to call home now almost literally hanging by a thread with almost zero chance of ever being rebuilt few locals on the collapsed boardwalk most of them in dire need of help this man who chose to remain anonymous to to government related work survived hurricane katrina his hopes of recovery post sandy are meager never going to move you still go parts of alabama louisiana mississippi where they got hit with katrina. they've been touched yet after sandy hit and lead october he spent over a month with no electricity heat or hot water and thirty degree weather fame or three times i feel the creation of three times i got politicians have the crew are the folks here that put them in office the least on the a list money looks better in your pocket that is spending and that may get washed away again i had to replace

my. hot water heater retired local roberta hof was currently burning building her walls floors em stairs says the destruction after the hurricane has been immense we don't have a movie theater we don't have the hospital it's gone the banks and finally opening now it's two and a half months it looks like as after a war or after knowing in afghanistan or something. and most of the help in hurricane affected areas has come from volunteers i didn't see too much of the red cross to be truth it was volunteers who have often been affected by sandy themselves like even use of from staten island actually it was like a floor on top of it that's how much it was the water his house deemed unsafe after the hurricane is about to be demolished the only think we need is the plants the funding. to get you know we were getting like two percent so we were going to get the ninety percent that's a mystery we need a check from god that's what we for a month and a half a man lived in this tent where he also set up

a help center for the community somewhere a lot of people coming there are still six seven hundred people. a day six seven hundred yes yes. all of these people victims of sandy everybody around here go up to them they'll tell you the same thing they said you know they handed me a sandwich and a blanket and i was in water up to my chest and they said hey see you later oh by the way i want to exit the truck occupy sandy a child of the occupy wall street movement has been a big part of the recovery effort to even praised by the n.y.p.d. what we have is a lot of people coming in here and not knowing where to turn and some of them are in tears and you know it's very hard to tell them that help is coming and you hear all this talk about that the nine billion if you were doing that would be a big help if it actually got to communities while politicians seem to have perfected the skill of arguing over how much cash to spend on relief aid getting money and help to ordinary people who needed right now is clearly

a skill that is yet to be learned and stacy churkin our. new york. now on our website a mammoth falls off a train in freezing siberian faras wearing only a t. shirt sweat pants and slippers find out how you managed to survive it r t v dot com . so it's not a sin to be beautiful a top vatican cleric graces the cover of vanity fair for more on the story head to our website. coming up next peter lavelle and his guests discuss the outlook for russia's foreign policy this year that's in cross talk. wealthy british style. time to write.

market why not. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike's concert for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into cars a report on our.